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Galerie Stephanie Untangles the Boundless Potential of Filipina Artists
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For International Women’s Month, Galerie Stephanie and curator Gwen Bautista premiered the exhibit Emerging Out of a Crumbling Flank of Earth. Amassing a group of more than thirty artists, the show focuses on a central feminism theme of the boundless potential of women’s art in the face of misogyny.
Comparing it to how June’s Pride Month is both a celebration of queerness and a protest for rights, Bautista sees the exhibit as a way to celebrate female artists of today while also acknowledging the trials faced in the past and to be conquered in the future.
“It’s a celebration among us women and how far [we’ve come],” Bautista said. “We have to applaud ourselves and also we have to pay tribute to the women who had put themselves on the line for this generation. [The exhibit also aims] to open paths and pavements and ways for this generation […] and the next generation to proceed with life and have less and less of that [struggle].”
‘Power’ and Adrienne Rich
The Galerie Stephanie exhibit’s theme and title comes from the poem “Power” by writer and feminist Adrienne Rich. It discusses the contributions of Marie Curie to science while ruminating on the consequences of these achievements to both her body and her life.
Bautista sees feminist progress as a double-edged sword for the women who push them forward. Even with their levels of tragedy and marginalization (Curie with how her discovery of radiation ended up killing, Rich with how she was ostracized in society by being a lesbian), they succeed in breaking barriers that make it easier for women in the future to get into their chosen fields.
“A lot of inspiration [comes from] having Adrienne Rich paying tribute to Marie Curie; from one great female figure to another. But it is also highlighting, at the same time, the oppression that both of them have also experienced and the marginalization of themselves in the fields where they have actually succeeded.
“There’s a lot of [that in society] whether we like it or not,” she continued. “For example, the literary world and the art world [are] heavily dominated by patriarchal structures. As women, we have to learn how to navigate these structures. And it’s always about finding our own ways. There’s also a lot of kinship and a lot of solidarity in that.”
Bautista paired the poem with an art piece by Poeleen Alvarez, “Locked and Loaded.” It uses a three-dimensional comic-book style collage of a man pointing an unloaded gun to the horizon as their background appears to be a close-up of a gun being fired.
“[Alvarez] is also an art historian [and] an educator; she teaches at UP. She works with zines, printed matter; you know, marginalized, I guess, mediums. But there’s a lot of strength in what she does, so, I feel like it’s apt [as representation] for the whole exhibition.”
New Generations of Artists
All of the artists in this Galerie Stephanie exhibit are under 35 years of age. According to both Bautista and Grace Micah Oreiro, operations manager for Galerie Stephanie, this was to highlight where contemporary Filipino art is today, and as a way of giving up and coming artists a boost in visibility.
“I feel like it’s a good concoction of two generations in itself,” Oreiro said. “And we feel like they’re also the movers of contemporary art now. They’re the ones showing new media, new concepts, very fresh and very much out there through social media. So, yeah, we really wanted to capture that kind of age bracket.”
“We wanted to see the progress,” she added. “We wanted to see the changes. We wanted to see experimentations happening at the age where everything seems so ripe, seems so peak.”
A variety of works from prominent artists abound. One sees abstract paintings by Gabby Prado, Grace Impas, and Tammy de Roca alongside realistic renderings of surroundings by Alyson Ortega, Nicole Britas, Izza Catayas, and Jem Magbanua.
Experimenting with Form
More experimental paintings were incorporated in the exhibit. Three examples of this were Tia Avila’s colorful paintings depicting a woman’s body covered in flowers and greenery, Amiel Louise Rivera’s mixed-media painting of a woman in distress, and Maica Borlagdan’s cloudy and space-like paintings made from acrylic and resin.
Bautista also desired to showcase more variety in the artworks beyond paintings, so she included stoneware works by Jessica Anne Alba, mixed-media sculptures by Sam Bumanlag, and textile works by Veronica Lazo and Jheane Borja.
“Female artists are always marginalized in a way but at the same time [it signals that] paintings are not the top [medium],” she explained. “ I guess it’s the more popular choice, but we need to also highlight that there are different formats of expression, and there are many, many ways in which you can realize ideas, your opinions, your insights. And women throughout many, many generations have been able to show that, oh, pwede pala yun, you know, that [it] can be done, not just in the arts, but also in society.”
Inventiveness and Expansion of Artistry
And when women don’t get marginalized, it allows the kind of artistic inquiries that are unpredictable. There’s space for them to discover new narratives, new ways of saying things, through the mediums that they currently have.
An interesting example of this is Anna Orlina’s five glass sculptures of two pairs of lips and eyes, and a hedge of flowers in between them. She created the work because she experimented with a new shipment of red glass that she hadn’t used yet. This blossomed into her utilizing and integrating new colors and ideas towards a piece that depicts two women talking next to a flower bush.
“ When I first made it, I was just like, ‘oh, eyes and lips.’ And I was like, ‘oh, maybe I [can] make two pairs of lips,’” she said. “It just came to be with the pieces I had. And I was like, ‘oh, that’s so cute,’ because I had two pairs of lips, it’s like they’re gossiping or they’re chatting over a rosebush.
“That’s how the storyline came to be, like a little narrative thing when putting it all together. Originally when they asked me for three sculptures, I came up with five just because I felt like it’s more complete to make, at least, a narrative [with the works]. I haven’t done that with my previous works, it’s always just been separate. But this one was like, ‘oh, it’s cute, it has a little story to it.”
Pushing the Mantle of Womanhood Forward
Emerging Out of a Crumbling Flank of Earth provides the end-product of the potential that exists in every aspiring artist if they’re just given the opportunity. It genuinely feels like these works just crack the surface of potential on where women’s art—and Filipino art as a whole—can go from here.
“We hope that these narratives will somehow overturn the wounds of becoming a woman,” the exhibit write-up said. “To rise and heal from the inherited collective and generational trauma of living inside patriarchal structures and unlearn any internalized sexism and misogyny. Together, we can relentlessly emerge from the crumbling flank of discrimination and inequality.”
Photos by Elle Yap.
Related reading: Galerie Stephanie Showcases an All-Filipina Lineup at Art Fair Tokyo
Frequently Asked Questions
The exhibit centers on the boundless potential of Filipina artists while navigating the patriarchal structures of modern society. Curated by Gwen Bautista, the show explores how ambition and progress act as a double-edged sword, acknowledging the historical struggles and future triumphs of women. It serves as both a celebration of contemporary creativity and a protest against the marginalization of women in the art world.
The title and central theme are derived from Adrienne Rich’s poem “Power,” which reflects on the life and sacrifices of scientist Marie Curie. The exhibit uses this literary connection to highlight the “double-edged sword” of success, where women break barriers in their fields despite facing physical or social consequences. This narrative underscores the shared experiences of oppression and the strength found in female solidarity across different generations and disciplines.
The exhibit showcases over thirty artists under the age of 35, including prominent names like Anna Orlina, Gabby Prado, and Poeleen Alvarez. Other contributors include experimental painters such as Tia Avila and Maica Borlagdan, as well as sculptors and textile artists like Jessica Anne Alba and Veronica Lazo. By focusing on this specific age bracket, the gallery aims to highlight the “movers” of contemporary Filipino art who are currently redefining media and concepts.
To challenge the dominance of painting in the art market, curator Gwen Bautista included a diverse array of mediums such as stoneware, glass sculptures, and textile works. Notable examples include Anna Orlina’s intricate glass pieces, Sam Bumanlag’s mixed-media sculptures, and Poeleen Alvarez’s three-dimensional comic-book style collages. This variety emphasizes that women have countless ways to realize their insights and opinions beyond traditional formats, fostering greater inventiveness in artistry.
The exhibit aims to “overturn the wounds of becoming a woman” by creating a space where artists can unlearn internalized sexism and rise above systemic inequality. By showcasing the success of younger Filipina artists, Galerie Stephanie fosters a sense of kinship and collective healing from inherited struggles. The ultimate goal is to provide a platform where women can relentlessly emerge from the crumbling flank of discrimination to explore unpredictable new narratives.
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